Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “payer” come from?

payer (French) comes from Middle French payer, from Old French paiier, from Medieval Latin pacare, from Latin pācāre, from Latin pāx, from Proto-Italic pāks, from Proto-Indo-European péh₂ḱ-s, from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ḱ- — to join, to attach; agreement, settlement.

payer (French): to pay; pay for; to pay off

Definitions

  1. to pay; pay for; to pay off

Ancestry of “payer”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchpayerto pay
2Old Frenchpaiierto pay
3Medieval Latinpacareto settle, satisfy; present active infinitive of...
4Latinpācāre—
5Latinpāx—
6Proto-Italicpākspeace
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpéh₂ḱ-speace
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₂ḱ-to join, to attach; agreement, settlement

Words derived from “payer”

  • payement
  • sous-payé
  • payé
  • paie
  • impayé
  • payeur
  • paye
  • surpayer
  • repayer
  • Pai
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ḱ- →